5 questions with Oil on Whyte ahead of tonight’s matchup between the LA Kings and the Edmonton Oilers

Tonight is a massive Western Conference matchup between two of the top teams in the Pacific Division, the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. As of the time of this article, Los Angeles sits in second place in the division (96), just two points behind Vegas (98). While the Oilers sit in third place (95), just one point behind the Kings.

This game could have potential playoff implications, specifically in regard to seeding because there is not a shadow of a doubt that both of these teams will make the playoffs. The question is now: what will their first-round matchups be?

A Kings-Oilers rematch of last year would certainly be must-watch television as Edmonton sent the Kings home in 2022 in seven games. Now, both teams are better and deeper, so if they do end up playing again in the first round, tonight could be a preview of a future seven-game series.

The puck is set to drop at 6:00 PM PST in Edmonton and ahead of tonight’s matchup, Rink Royalty interviewed Oil On Whyte, an Edmonton Oilers coverage site on the FanSided Network, to discuss Connor McDavid, who the Kings can expect to see in goal tonight, and more.

Let’s dive in.

Question #1: Connor McDavid is arguably the best player in hockey, if not the best. But, the Oilers have another top-end talent player in Leon Draisaitl. Do Oilers fans hold Draisaitl in the same regard as McDavid? Or is he a slight tier lower than him?

Oil on Whyte replied: “Like you mentioned McDavid is on his own level, trying to compare him to any other player in the world isn’t worth the time. For Draisaitl if he was on any other team he would be their best player, but because of McDavid I don’t think he gets as much respect as he should from the league. A lot of the noise from outside of Edmonton is “Draisaitl is only putting up those numbers because he plays with McDavid”, but that isn’t the case as they rarely play on the same line 5v5. From a fans point of view I would say they have just as much love for Draisaitl as McDavid, if you look in the crowd in Rogers Place there is just about as much Draisaitl jerseys as McDavid jerseys.”

The Oilers have been blessed to have two of the greatest hockey players on the planet, who were drafted in back-to-back years. Draisaitl was drafted with the 3rd overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, and a year later McDavid was drafted 1st overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

To say the Oilers hit on both picks would be a massive understatement and we are witnessing two future Hall of Famers take the ice every night. A dynamic duo that the Kings will most certainly have to worry about. But, with the addition of Vladislav Gavrikov at the trade deadline and two elite defensive forwards in Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault, Los Angeles has a chance to slow them down.

Question #2: 2. Edmonton acquired Mattias Ekholm at the trade deadline, a very high-quality pickup. How is he fitting into the Oilers’ lineup?

A: “One of the major concerns going through last off-season and this season up till the deadline was the fact the Oilers didn’t have enough depth on the blue line. They solved that problem when they acquired Ekholm. Not only is Ekholm solid in his own rights, his veteran presence has also improved the play of Evan Bouchard. Last season Bouchard was paired with Duncan Keith and Bouchard had solid defensive numbers. Since Keith retired in the offseason Bouchard didn’t have that veteran with him and his play struggled. Since the arrival of Ekholm, the Bouchard/Ekholm pairing has been making a case for being the first pair. So I think Ekholm has fit in perfectly.”

One of the biggest question marks on the Edmonton Oilers roster was their lack of defense and unstable goaltending. In the offseason, general manager Ken Holland went out and signed Jack Campbell out of the free agency market, and just before the trade deadline, he brought in veteran defenseman Mattias Ekholm from Nashville.

Unfortunately, Edmonton hasn’t gotten the most out of Jack Campbell this season and his contract of five years, worth $25 million dollars is looking tougher by the day. But, on the other hand, Mattias Ekholm appears to be doing exactly what he was brought in for, which was to fill a major defensive hole and make people better. And that is exactly what he is doing.

Question #3: From an outsider’s perspective, the goalie situation for the Oilers has seemed questionable all season long. Who can the Kings expect to face in net tonight?

A: “The Oilers goaltending has been fairly decent so far this season, the thing is: it’s with Stuart Skinner as the starter, not the big offseason signing in Jack Campbell. Jack Campbell has had a really tough season where he has let in at least one goal in a game that most goalies should make. He may have a good win/loss record for the way he has played, but his save percentage is a reflection of his poor play. So the Kings should expect to see Stuart Skinner tonight as well as on the 4th. I think Campbell will only be getting one more start and that is on a back to back. The only way I see Campbell starting more than that is if the last game of the season is meaningless standings wise.”

As mentioned earlier, Jack Campbell’s contract isn’t exactly matching up with his performance of play this season. Currently, his record on the season is 19-9-4 in 34 games played. In those 34 games, he has a .882 save percentage and a 3.59 goals against average.

Not the best season for Soupy, but thankfully, for Edmonton, Stuart Skinner has been playing well this season. Skinner is 24-14-5 in 45 games played, and he has a .908 save percentage to go along with a 2.95 goals against average.

Much better statistics than Jack Campbell, which makes sense as to why he has been named the starter. It reminds me of a very similar situation with the Kings’ Cal Petersen. Soon after he received a three-year contract extension, he became unplayable at the NHL level and has been sent down to the Ontario Reign where he will remain for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully, the Kings can solve Stuart Skinner tonight and bring home the win like they did on November 16, 2022, in Crypto.com Arena. Thousand Oaks native Trevor Moore led the way with a hat-trick.

Question #4: The race for first in Pacific Division is a tight one between the Oilers, Kings, and Golden Knights. Who is the preferred matchup for the Oilers in the first round?

A: “Since the Edmonton Oilers are fresh of a dominating 7-4 win against the Golden Knights I would have to say the Oilers would prefer to play them. The Edmonton Oilers rely so much on offense that if a team can limit that then the Oilers are going to struggle and I think the Kings are the better shutdown team. The Kings pushed the Oilers to seven games last season while the Kings were missing a few key pieces. If the Kings have those pieces, that series could have went the other way. Both teams have improved from a year ago. It would be an awesome series to watch as it would be a very tight series, this is why I think the Golden Knights would be preferred.“

The Vegas Golden Knights remain at the top of the division, but the Kings and Oilers are very close behind. If Vegas continues to struggle with their goaltending, then it is very possible that Los Angeles or Edmonton could leap over them in the standings.

It also seems like Vegas is the straw that the other Pacific teams want to draw because the Oilers specialize in a high-powered offense, the Kings specialize in shutdown defense and have had more offensive output this season than is typically normal, but Vegas doesn’t really have an identity either way.

It seems like their only identity is to go after the big fish in free agency and throw all of their draft picks away. Granted, they have had terrible injury luck with their netminders. Robin Lehner was put on LTIR in October of last year. Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson have also missed time due to injuries. But, both of them have been activated off of IR as of March 25, 2022.

And with Mark Stone being out, it’s amazing how Vegas has stayed at the top of the division. But, both the Kings and Oilers are gnawing at that top spot.